Upcoming arts events around Boston

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Some of the area's best artists are also teachers. This exhibit shows off work by the fabulous faculty at Maud Morgan Arts, including Jane Goldman, Raul Gonzalez, Jon Imber, and Anne Lilly. (Pictured: a monotype by Cristiane Corcelle).
Through Jan. 4. Chandler Gallery, Maud Morgan Arts, 20A Sacramento St., Cambridge. 617-349-6287, www.maudmorganarts.org

THEATER

CHINGLISH With standout performances by Celeste Oliva and Barlow Adamson, Larry Coen’s first-rate production of David Henry Hwang’s poignant comedy generates sparks from the cultural collisions that result when a Midwesterner tries to pull off a big business deal in China. Through Dec. 23. Lyric Stage Company. 617-585-5678, www.lyric stage.com

CHESAPEAKE A certain smugness about the lofty place of capital-A art and the ignorance of the philistines mars this solo play by Lee Blessing, but Georgia Lyman delivers a superb, many-shaded portrayal of a performance artist at loggerheads with a conservative Southern senator. Directed by Doug Lockwood. Through Dec. 16. New Repertory Theatre, Black Box Theater, Arsenal Center for the Arts, Watertown. 617-923-8487, www.new rep.org

THE PIANIST OF WILLESDEN LANE In this compelling solo show, adapted and directed by Hershey Felder, the tale Mona Golabek has to tell — and we do sense that she has to tell it — is that of her own mother, Lisa Jura, an aspiring pianist who fled the Nazis as a young teenager. Through Dec. 16. ArtsEmerson. Jackie Liebergott Black Box Theater, Paramount Center. 617-824-8400, www.artsemerson.org

ARABIAN NIGHTS A remount of last year’s bewitching production, again starring Evelyn Howe as the quick-thinking storyteller and Vincent Ernest Siders as the hot-tempered king. Adapted by Dominic Cooke and directed by Daniel Gidron, with visually ravishing set and puppet design by David Fichter. Through Dec. 30. Nora Theatre Company and Underground Railway Theater. At Central Square Theater, Cambridge. 866-811-4111, www.centralsquare theater.org

HALF ’N HALF ’N HALF John Kolvenbach’s newest farce is set in a theater, both onstage and backstage, and it has some hilarious moments. The play always feels like a disjointed collection of funny fragments rather than a coherent comedy, but director Kyle Fabel and the production’s cast of four clearly adore these characters and know how to make them hum. Through Dec. 23. Merrimack Repertory Theatre, Lowell. 978-654-9678, www.mrt.org

DANCE

WHAT THE DICKENS! The Cambridge Youth Dance Program reimagines Dickens’s familiar Christmas tale by casting Scrooge as a greedy corporate bigwig (who happens to be a woman) obsessed with power and wealth. Guest performers include the Wondertwins — hip-hoppers Billy and Bobby McClain — and the program’s young dancers fill in the ranks, enlivening the proceedings with a mix of ballet, modern, jazz, and tap. Dec. 15-16. $25. Boston University Dance Theater. 617-497-1448, www.cydp.org

THE NUTCRACKER Now in its 30th season, the small professional troupe Dance Prism is committed to taking its version of the holiday classic to a variety of communities. This weekend’s performances, complete with falling snow, a Christmas tree that grows before your eyes, and a cadre of adorable children, close the season. Dec. 15-16. $24, $18 seniors and children. Collins Center, 100 Shawsheen Road, Andover. 978-371-1038, www.danceprism.com

NORTHEASTERN BALLET THEATRE Former Boston Ballet prima ballerina Edra Toth brings her New Hampshire-based troupe to Faneuil Hall Marketplace for a free program of excerpts from “The Nutcracker.” When you get tired of shopping, you can head over to the rotunda of the food court for this holiday pick-me-up. Dec. 15, 1 p.m. Free. Faneuil Hall Marketplace. 603-834-8834, www.north easternballet.org

GALLERIES

PURE SMOKE CULTURE
Artist Nick Kramer curates an exhibit of seven artists from New York and Los Angeles whose work features found objects that are toyed with, damaged, adorned, captured in resin, or otherwise altered. They hold their history, and transmute it. Through Jan. 19. Anthony Greaney, 450 Harrison Ave. 617-482-0055, www.anthonygreaney.com

NANCY REYNER & CHARLOTTE ANDRY GIBBS: RECENT PAINTINGS
Both painters blend gold leaf into their work. Gibbs adds a new layer of meaning to minimalist and pop forms. The gold veiling in Reyner’s landscapes turns her mountains diaphanous, with a hint of the divine. Through Jan. 5. Beth Urdang Gallery, 129 Newbury St. 781-264-1121, www.bethurdanggallery.com

MUSEUMS

YALE UNIVERSITY ART GALLERY REOPENING The university’s superb collection, ranging from ancient art to Asian, Indo-Pacific, African, American, and modern and contemporary art, has been re-installed in a series of three connected and freshly renovated buildings. Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven. 203-432-0600, artgallery.yale.edu

THIS WILL HAVE BEEN: ART, LOVE, AND POLITICS IN THE 1980S An overview of some of the main currents of art in the 1980s. Through March 3. Institute of Contemporary Art. 617-478-3100, www.icaboston.org

WEATHERBEATEN: WINSLOW HOMER AND MAINE Timed to coincide with the opening of the renovated Winslow Homer Studio at Prouts Neck, this show gathers together 35 major works painted by Homer in the final decade of his life. Through Dec. 30. Portland Museum of Art, Portland, Maine. 207-775-6148, www.portlandmuseum.org

KENNEDY TO KENT STATE: IMAGES OF A GENERATION Archival news photographs from the 1960s that seared themselves into the public imagination. Through Feb. 3. Worcester Art Museum, Worcester. 508-799-4406, www.worcesterart.org